US 11,671,899 B2
System and method to identify unauthorized aerial user equipment over a terrestrial network
Daniel Vivanco, Ashburn, VA (US); David Ross Beppler, Duluth, GA (US); and Slawomir Mikolaj Stawiarski, Carpentersville, IL (US)
Assigned to AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Atlanta, GA (US); and AT&T Technical Services Company, Inc., Vienna, VA (US)
Filed by AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Atlanta, GA (US); and AT&T Technical Services Company, Inc., Vienna, VA (US)
Filed on Jun. 1, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/335,860.
Prior Publication US 2022/0386220 A1, Dec. 1, 2022
Int. Cl. H04W 4/00 (2018.01); H04W 48/04 (2009.01); H04B 7/185 (2006.01); H04W 36/24 (2009.01); H04W 72/08 (2009.01); H04W 36/00 (2009.01); H04W 48/16 (2009.01)
CPC H04W 48/04 (2013.01) [H04B 7/18506 (2013.01); H04W 36/00835 (2018.08); H04W 36/245 (2013.01); H04W 48/16 (2013.01); H04W 72/085 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
detecting, by a processing system including a processor of a wireless communication network, a plurality of user equipment (UE) devices comprising one or more terrestrial UEs and one or more aerial UEs in communication with the network via a serving cell of the network, wherein the network is configured to facilitate communications by the one or more terrestrial UEs and the one or more aerial UEs;
monitoring, by the processing system, messages from an aerial UE of the one or more aerial UEs, the messages regarding detection of one or more cells of the network other than the serving cell;
receiving, by the processing system from the aerial UE, information regarding a detected cell of the one or more cells;
analyzing, by the processing system, the information regarding the detected cell, wherein the analyzing comprises at least one of estimating a first quantity associated with a location of the detected cell relative to the serving cell and estimating a second quantity associated with a power received at the aerial UE from the detected cell; and
determining, by the processing system based at least in part on the analyzing, whether the aerial UE is an unauthorized aerial UE that is not authorized to conduct airborne operations that include communicating over the network,
wherein the first quantity comprises a likelihood of terrestrial overlapping coverage between the detected cell and the serving cell, and wherein the processing system determines that the aerial UE is unauthorized in accordance with the first quantity being less than a first predetermined threshold.